The 5th round of the Canadian Rally Championship will take place this coming weekend out of Merritt, British Columbia, a small community in the Rockies north-east of Vancouver. Leading their respective categories, some of the Mitsubishi teams will be able to seal more national championships. Enjoying at this point a perfect season with 4 victories in as many outings, already runner-up in the Rally America series, Antoine L’Estage from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC and co-driver Nathalie Richard from Halifax, NS will be vying for an 8th consecutive win in their Mitsubishi Evolution and their 5th in British-Columbia. But a sixth place finish would make them the 2011 Canadian champions with one more event to come in November.

The 2WD class and Group 5 category will be a clash between three Mitsubishi teams. First, the returning champions Jan and Jody Zedril from Winnipeg are leading both standings and could be crowned again this weekend. But serious opposition will come from the Polish team of Calgarians Zebe Szewczyk and Tomasz Karzynski, the former champions with their Lancer. Last but not least, the second Albertan crew of Krystian Ostrowski and Christopher Galecki will enter their Mitsubishi Eclipse with hopes of a maiden class win.

“The teams of the Mitsubishi Brigade have been perfect all season long and this is a testimony to their skills and the reliability of our vehicles”, said Koji Soga, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada. (MMSC). “The round in Western Canada could be the final point in their quest for new titles. We wish them the best again.”

Pacific Forest : long and winding roads

Pacific Forest Rally is the longest event in the season with almost 600 kilometres in distance, comprising 17 sections of sheer speed totalling 162 km for the 30-car starting list. The event will take to the logging roads around Merritt, B.C. from Friday afternoon only to finish Saturday night. Cars will spend the night in Parc Ferme. For more information, please visit the event web site at www.pacificforestrally.com or visit our password free media website at www.mitsubishi-motors-pr.ca

New North American champions, Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard in their Mitsubishi Evolution will be looking to stretch their victory string to eight in British Columbia. Jan and Jody Zedril from Winnipeg are on the way to another 2WD title but are already Group 5 champions.